  Apamea Myrlea Shown within Turkey | |
| Location | Turkey |
|---|---|
| Region | Bursa Province |
| Coordinates | 40°22′35″N28°53′00″E / 40.37639°N 28.88333°E /40.37639; 28.88333 |
Apamea Myrlea (/ˌæpəˈmiːəmərˈliːə/;Ancient Greek:Απάμεια Μύρλεια) was an ancient city and bishopric (Apamea in Bithynia) on theSea of Marmara, inBithynia,Anatolia; its ruins are a few kilometers south ofMudanya,Bursa Province in theMarmara Region of AsianTurkey.
To distinguish this city from the many others called Apamea,[1][2] the name Apamea Myrlea used here adds to the name (Apamea) it was given when rebuilt as an important city the name (Myrlea) it previously bore as a smaller town.[3] It was also referred to as Apamea Myrlēon (Apamea of Myrlea).[4]
The town was founded as acolony of theColophonians and was called Μύρλεια (Myrleia or Myrlea).Philip V of Macedon took the town, as it appears, during his war against the king ofPergamon, and gave it to his ally, KingPrusias I of Bithynia, who fortified and enlarged it – indeed almost rebuilt it[5] – around 202 BC, renaming it Ἀπάμεια (transcribed as Apameia, Apamea, or Apamia), after his wife,Apama III.[6]
The place was on the west coast of theGulf of Gemlik, and northwest ofBursa, then called Prusa, for which it served as a port.[1]
TheRomans made Apamea acolonia, apparently in the time ofAugustus, or perhapsJulius Caesar, in view of the adjective "Julius" that appears on its coins under Roman rule.[6]Its earlier coins were stamped Ἀπαμέων Μυρλεάνων, but in Roman times they bore the label C.I.C.A. (= Colonia Iulia Concordia Apamea).[7]
WhenPliny the Younger was governor ofBithynia, he consultedTrajan about a claim by thecolonia not to have its accounts of receipts and expenditures examined by theRoman governor.[6]
A passage ofUlpian shows use of the adjectival form of the name wasApamenus: "Apamena: est in Bithynia colonia Apamena.[6]
This Apamea in the LateRoman province of Bithynia became the seat of a Christianbishop in the 4th century and was at first asuffragan ofNicaea, but became an autocephalousarchdiocese some time before theFourth Council of Constantinople (Roman Catholic) in 869, at which itsarchbishop Paulus took part.[8][9]
No longer a residential bishopric,Apamea in Bithynia is today listed by theCatholic Church as atitular see,[10] of the intermediary Archiepiscopal rank.
Since the Latin Catholic archdiocese was thus nominally restored (in ?1633), it has had the following archiepiscopal incumbents, but is vacant since decades :
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